Don’t have a Loved One Bleed to Death without Knowing Why

Hemophilia and Von Willebrand Disease are two very nasty blood conditions.

There are some 8,000 Filipino men with hemophilia, while about 900,000 men and women have Von Willebrand Disease. Both are bleeding disorders.

IN the Philippines 6,000 to 8,000 men are believed afflicted with hemophilia, but only 1,010 of them have been diagnosed with the disease. There are also 900,000 men and women who have Von Willebrand Disease (VWD), but only 26 of them have been identified. Experts say people die or bleed to death young
-  or are dying without knowing what their diseases are.

Do you have a child or a family member who has such sensitive skin that even a simple scratch, bruise or bumps may cause continuous bleeding? Is he or she experiencing prolonged bleeding while brushing his or her teeth, or after a cut, tooth removal, surgery or an accident? Do his or her joints in the legs and arms swell in pain?

Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder and mostly exclusively inherited by men. The mothers are usually the carriers of the disease. It is a rare genetic disorder that prevents blood from forming an affective clot.

THE symptoms of Von Willebrand Disease are easy bruising, frequent or prolonged nose bleeds, bleeding from gums, prolonged bleeding from minor cuts, heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding on women, bleeding in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract, and prolonged bleeding following injury, surgery, dental work or child birth.

“Von Willebrand affects men and women equally. There’s a huge problem for women—if they start menstruating, rather than having the period for seven days, they bleed 14 to 20 days a month. They can’t go to school, they become anemic, they can’t find jobs, and it’s dangerous for them to have children,” she explained.

“Unfortunately, there are no facilities in the Philippines that can diagnose Von Willebrand Disease. We were told the tests are quite complex that they need special reagents and machines. The technology is only available either in Hong Kong or Singapore in Asia,” Echavez said.
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The above information contained in an article written by Sara Fabunan – Wednesday Oct 15 2008
for the “Business Mirror – Online Space”. Link to original article:

http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=442:there-will-be-blood&catid=32:life

Laureen A. Kelly is the co-founder of “Project Share” – helping those who have these diseases.
She can be reached at: www.Kellycom.com

“Save someone today ! Be an hero by donating blood” . After primary needs like air, water, food and shelter comes the role of blood in a person’s life. Blood is the second liquid needed for life after water . Every day thousands die due to unavailability of blood. The different blood groups make it more harder for affected person’s blood banks to obtain blood. Rare blood groups are the reason why lot of blood donation campaign starts. You save many precious lives when you donate blood. Donating blood is a healthy habit. A single person cannot change this world to paradise, let’s start the work and others will follow us. The revolution begins as lot of unpaid volunteers come up. The blood banks are really a great help as they do collect blood and save it.

Blood donation is the cheapest way you can save someone’s life. It just take a few minutes time and one bottle blood from your body to save precious lives. The blood you donate helps an unknown brother/sister. Blood donation is worth more than any other charity you do. Many donors give blood only when family and friends need transfusions. Have you thought why people are more reluctant to give blood? . One of the reasons is the fear of getting harmful diseases from the un-sterilized needle’s use. The only way to attract a lot of people into blood donation is bringing more and more awareness. Every drop of blood is precious. Finally let’s us all take an promise “We will donate blood once in six months”.

- Cijo Abraham